


Painting Stars on Your Thumb

by sincerelymendacious



Category: Psychonauts (Video Games)
Genre: Aliens, First Meetings, Gen, Plants, Scientific Research, friendship fic, girls being pals, lots of talking, nail-painting, tw: bullying in the first half
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:33:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23792389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sincerelymendacious/pseuds/sincerelymendacious
Summary: Lili offers to hang out with one of the new kids after witnessing her standing up to some bullies.
Relationships: Franke Athens/Kitty Bubai
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	Painting Stars on Your Thumb

**Author's Note:**

> A sequel of sorts to my previous story "Hey Hun, I've got Something That will Fix Your Follicles." You don't have to read that one to get this one but it does explain some things contained within this fic. 
> 
> I felt like it was only fair that Chloe have a nice experience with a cool girl after writing that last one, so here is this!

The giggles, flowing down from the other side of the long wooden table that Lili sat at, had a particularly annoying quality on that cool summer afternoon. Anytime that Lili heard a new chuckle or snort, her attention would be diverted from the string she was telekinetically sliding an alternating pattern of black, purple and pink beads on, and to the source of the noises. It would remain there until she managed to refocus her concentration back on the craft floating in front of her, which, in truth, wasn’t doing much to alleviate the boredom that had brought her to the Main Lodge in the first place. She continuously chastised herself for her nosiness and swore every time not to do it again, only to break her word mere seconds later. 

The two perpetrators of the audible distraction were Franke Athens and Kitty Bubai, although Lili did not think that they were doing it to annoy her specifically. With their heads closely bowed and their words whispered too lowly for anyone else to hear, it seemed like they were in their own little world. Occasionally, one would look up, her eyes passing over each occupant of the Main Lodge for at least a second before ducking back down, an action that usually preceded another burst of giggling. In this way, they were announcing to the camp at large that the two of them were part of an exclusive club, one that the lowly peons surrounding them had little chance of receiving an invite to. 

This on its own did not bother Lili. It was actually the reason why she’d chosen that table to sit at. Three other tables in the room were occupied- one by Crystal and Clem, one by Phoebe, Quentin, and Mikhail, and one by Vernon Tripe, happily talking away to nobody in particular. She did not wish to join any of these groups, not wanting any of them to rope her into whatever they were doing. Crystal was alright on her own, but she and Clem together were a bit too much, especially when they were working on their cheers, as they appeared to be doing now. She’d hung out with Quentin several times and did like him quite a bit, but he was with Phoebe (who would be okay if she wasn’t so nosy) and Mikhail (whose constant desire to wrestle wore on her nerves). She wasn’t sure what they were doing- it looked like Phoebe was giving Mikhail some kind of make-shift inkblot test, with Quentin occasionally chiming in with his own observations- but she didn’t want to be Phoebe’s next test subject once Mikhail was done. As for Vernon, he probably had a stupid, rambling story about beads somewhere in that mental library of his, and if she sat anywhere near him he would immediatly attach himself to her and tell it. 

There were empty tables too, but sitting by herself at one of them may have prompted irritating people- such as Nils, Elka, or that one sailor kid whose name she could never remember- to invite themselves into her company. Choosing to sit with Kitty and Franke, even at a distance, would keep everyone else away,lest they risk being mocked by the two, and since the girls were only interested in themselves, Lili should have, in theory, been left undisturbed. 

“Oh my God,” Franke said, sounding gleefully shocked by something Kitty told her. Kitty was quick to shush her, not wanting to be overheard. Again, Lili was unable to resist her odd desire to watch the two girls as they continued their conversation in whispers. She didn’t know or care about what they were talking about- she guessed that it must have been gossip, since that was all the two seemed to do. Her interest had more to do with the activity that they engaged themselves in as they chatted and giggled. Franke was in the middle of painting each of Kitty’s nails teal, and the array of glitters, stencils, and fine-tipped brushes nearby implied that further work would be done once the base coat had dried. She was applying the nail polish physically rather than telekinetically as Milla had recommended the girls do in order to practice the skill. Probably for the best, since Franke wasn’t exactly known for her brain power. 

A strange sensation simmered in Lili’s stomach as she observed the way Franke held Kitty’s hand in her own, how she carefully brushed the polish onto Kitty’s ring finger as though it were the most important task in the whole world, how sometimes the two girl’s gazes would met, and both would smile softly, in a way that had no traces of the meanness they reserved for the targets of their gossip. Lili did not want to call the emotion envy. Kitty was kind of cool- Lili liked how she thought for herself and didnt’ take any nonsense from stupid boys. Her sense of fashion and make-up, though not to Lili’s personal taste, was unique, another point in the girl’s favor. But she disliked how mean Kitty could be to everyone she considered ‘beneath’ her, even the younger kids who hadn’t done her any offense. On a more personal level, she was also a bit sore over how Kitty had treated her- she’d gone out of her way to encourage Lili to make a Campster account and befriend her, only to pretty much ignore her once camp had actually begun. As for Franke; Lili did not like her at all. The redhead reminded her too much of the hangers-on she encountered on a regular basis back home, in addition to being almost painfully stupid. And yet, as she observed them both, she felt a strange desire for...something. She couldn’t say what. 

The long creak of an opening door briefly quieted the on-going conversations in the Main Lodge as everyone turned to see who had entered. Lili only had to look forward, since she sat facing the entrance. It was one of the new campers; the tiny girl who’d never been seen without that old space helmet on. The collective silence in the room stretched longer than it normally would have, for the girl- her name was Chloe, Lili remembered- struck everyone as a bit odd. She seemed to be under the impression that she was from another planet, and was not shy about disclosing her alien origins. There were also several rumors about her going around; about how she had climbed onto the antenna attached to the Main Lodge, about how she’d had some kind of altercation with Bobby Zilch, and most recently, that an unfortunate accident (the nature of which currently varied from story to story) had caused her to go completely bald. Lili did not put much stock into camp gossip, since most of it was really stupid, but the amount of rumors already following this Tender Brain, who had been here for less than a week, made her a little more curious than she would normally have been in a new camper. 

So everyone, including Lili, paused what they were doing to look at the girl as the door closed behind her. Chloe looked back, unperturbed, holding a pad of paper and a blue pencil in front of her chest. Interest quickly waned when it became clear that Chloe was not about to do something weird right then and there, and everyone went back to what they were doing. Lili resumed stringing beads onto her necklace.  _ Who cares,  _ she thought as she dropped a pink bead onto the string.  _ It’s none of my business why she’s here.  _

That was what Lili told herself. The girl, however, soon replaced Kitty and Franke as the target of Lili’s side glances. Why, Lili couldn’t say, since the girl wasn’t doing anything interesting; just making her way up the aisle between the tables, occasionally writing something down on her paper pad. On the surface, it looked like she was searching for a place to sit, but Lili noticed that she stopped at the occupied tables and watched the people seated there before moving on. It was sort of a weird thing to do; openly observing people you didn’t really know without talking to them. Part of Lili wanted to call Chloe over and ask her what she was doing, why she was doing it, and what she was scribbling down on that pad. She closed her eyes and envisioned setting that part of herself on fire. As curious as she was, she knew that getting involved would probably just end up being exhausting. 

It was not long before Chloe paused at the table Lili sat at, although at the opposite end where Kitty and Franke were. This time, Chloe did more than just stop, observe, and write- she actually spoke. “Greetings, fellow campers,” she said, inclining her head towards both of them. 

Kitty and Franke did not immediately respond, perhaps surprised that anyone, let alone a strange little Tender Brain, would be bold enough to walk up and talk to them. “Uh, hi?” Franke said, the greeting more awkward and uncertain than friendly. 

“I see that you are engaged in a human social ritual,” Chloe said, pointing down at Kitty and Franke’s joined hands. “It is one that I have not yet encountered before during my time on this planet. Can you explain what it is you are doing to me?”

Franke snorted derisively. Lili frowned, finding the way she laughed to be more irritating than it had been minutes earlier. “Uh, I’m painting my girl’s nails, duh,” she replied, lifting the nail brush up so that Chloe could see it. “You’ve never heard of that before? Man, you must really be from another planet.” 

“One that doesn’t care much for personal hygiene,” Kitty said, her cat-like gaze directed at Chloe’s hands. From where Lili sat, she could not discern the state of Chloe’s nails, but Kitty’s tone implied that they didn’t live up to her lofty standards. “Or is having short, dull nails in style where you’re from?” 

“I bet she’s from Planet Nasty Nails,” Franke added, snickering. Lili rolled her eyes-why did a smart girl like Kitty allow someone as obnoxious as Franke to hang around her?

“Yes, decorating one’s nails in that elaborate manner is not an activity that my people partake in,” Chloe said. The insults hadn’t upset her- if anything she sounded pleased that her status as an alien had been acknowledged. “I find it quite intriguing. Aren’t you concerned that the paint will smear off while doing more arduous tasks?” 

“Do I look like a manual laborer to you?” Kitty asked, her smile at odds with the sharp way that she spoke. “I’m rich and psychic. My hands don’t have to do anything but look perfect.” 

“Yeah, Kitty doesn’t have to touch anything ever!” Franke agreed enthusiastically. “And even if she did, I can totally fix her nails up good as new!” At that moment, a drop of teal polish dropped off the edge of the nail brush onto Kitty’s finger. “Oh jeez,” Franke huffed, irritated. “Look at what you made me do!” 

“I did not make you do that,” Chloe said plainly. “The paint dripped off due to it accumulating at the tip.” She spoke so matter of factly that Lili could not help but smile. She didn’t know if Chloe was intentionally stirring up trouble or if she really was that oblivious to her peers’ rising annoyance, but she had to hand it to Chloe- she had guts, talking to the camp’s gossip queens like this. 

It was clearly not an opinion Kitty shared. “Are you bothering us for a reason?” she demanded to know as Franke dabbed a cotton pad over the splatter on her finger. “If you’re looking to phone home, E.T., go use the Coach’s. I don’t let aliens touch my stuff.” 

“I have no wish to use your long-distance communication device,” Chloe said, shaking her head. “Intergalactic communication requires an antenna much larger than the ones currently attached to hand-held devices.”    
  


“Oh my God,” Franke grumbled, tossing the used cotton ball onto the table with enough force to make it bounce. “Just tell us what you want and go.” She picked the brush up out of the nail polish pot and resumed painting Kitty’s nail. “Actually, just go. Get in your U.F.O. and go back to Planet Annoying Loser.” 

“Now, Franke,” Kitty said sweetly, reaching over with her free hand to pat her cheek. “There’s no reason to talk like that- you might start an intergalactic incident. Let’s hear Chloe out.” 

The sudden shift from mean to friendly would have put most people on their guard- it certainly made Lili suspicious. Chloe, evidently, was not most people. “I wish to observe your nail painting ritual,” she said eagerly, her pencil already hovering over her paper pad, ready to take notes. “Most female-oriented activities involve cosmetic manipulation of the head or hair, which I cannot partake in for personal reasons.” At the mention of hair, Franke giggled, and was subsequently shushed by Kitty. “This, however, is something that I could potentially participate in with a minimum of discomfort, should I wish to do so.” She pointed down at Kitty’s hand. “That color is very visually appealing.” 

Kitty hummed, a note of consideration in the noise. Lili doubted that she was actually thinking about granting Chloe’s request; it was more likely that she was planning out how she could maximize her and Franke’s amusement. “Show me your nails,” she ordered after a moment of silent thought. 

Chloe obeyed, setting her paper and pencil down on the table before displaying her hands palm side down to the two girls. Kitty leaned forward, tsking disapprovingly as she examined them. “Girl, do they not have nail filers where you come from?” 

“Eugh, that one is super short!” Franke added, pointing to one of Chloe’s nails. “What’d you do, eat it?” 

Chloe brought her hand closer to face to inspect the nail in question. “I believe that I tore that one while tinkering with a gadget I discovered in the stream,” she explained as she set her hand back down. “I did not eat my nail. I do not put my fingers in any of my facial orifices, as I have seen humans such as yourself do.” 

Franke squawked like one of the seagulls that lived by the lake. “What the heck does that mean?” she snapped, outrage coloring her cheeks.    
  


Chloe looked at her calmly, either unaware of Franke’s anger or completely dismissive of it. “I have observed you on two occasions with your index finger in your nostrils,” Chloe recalled like a student reciting a fact to a teacher. “You start with the right one, and then move on to the left.” Her head tilted downward. “Is that why you have such long nails? So that you are able to more efficiently search your nasal cavity for unwanted mucus clusters?” 

Giggles bubbled up in Lili’s throat. She smothered them with her hand, thoroughly amused by the way Chloe had turned the tables on Franke. 

Franke naturally denied the accusation of nose-picking. “That’s- that’s not true!” she stammered out, the red on her cheeks spreading throughout the entirety of her face. “You’re lying, you...bald liar! I’d never do anything that nasty!” 

Chloe picked up her paper pad and began leafing through it. “I wrote down the exact date and time of each occurance,” Chloe said, flipping through the pad, and then showing Franke proof of documentation. 

Franke gaped at the writing for a second before swiveling her head over to Kitty. “It’s- I-that’s- she-” Franke babbled a string of half-words, her distress increasing with each one.

Kitty took her hand out of Franke’s and patted her on the forearm. “Calm down, baby,” she said with uncharacteristic gentleness. “We’ll talk about your problem later, okay?” 

Franke responded with a nod, looking somewhat mollified but still upset. 

Kitty gave her girlfriend’s hand one last comforting pat before turning her attention back to Chloe. The string of beads fell to the table as Lili’s concentration became fully trained upon the scene going on next to her. A slow dread crept up within her as she waited to see what would happen next; the anticipation of disaster that was similar to the feeling she got when she read a scary book. If Chloe felt the same way, she didn’t show it, for she met Kitty’s no doubt acrimonious gaze without any fear or nervousness. 

“As for you,” Kitty began when it became clear that glaring alone was not going to make Chloe flee. “You’re not going to be watching us do anything.” The pretence of friendliness was dropped entirely, with Kitty not bothering to hide the scorn she felt towards the Tender Brain. “And we’re definitely not going to waste good nail polish on those dirty, calloused paws you call hands.” 

Lili bit the inside of her cheek, annoyed. Her own hands had several callouses from her frequent gardening back home. 

“Oh.” Chloe sounded taken aback by Kitty’s shift in tone, as though she had only just realized the amount of hostility being directed her way. “That is fine, then. I will not force my presence upon you if it's not wanted.” 

“Oh, trust me, it’s definitely not wanted,” Kitty replied snidely. Franke nodded in enthusiastic agreement. “Not by us, or by anyone else here on this planet. Maybe you should phone mission control and tell them to send someone who can blend in with other humans and not one that acts like the most awkward robot in existence.”

“Tell them to send you a wig, too,” Franke chimed in, not wanting her girlfriend to have all of the fun. 

Lili rose from her seat, grabbing her string and beads. Kitty’s glee in tearing apart a kid was akin to a cat toying with a mouse before it kills it, and just as difficult to watch.  _ She could have just told Chloe to leave them alone. This is why I hate people.  _ She wanted to leave before Chloe burst into tears, but was held in place by the sudden need to see this whole nasty scene out to the end, guilt at not intervening earlier nagging at her.  _ What am I gonna do, go over there and comfort her while she cries? That’s...stupid.  _

Much to Lili’s relief and surprise, Chloe did not start crying-she didn’t even flinch. “I apologize if my request offended you, but there is no need to be rude,” Chloe said, a trace of coolness betraying her annoyance at Kitty and Franke’s unfriendly behavior. “You could have just asked me to leave instead of making false and derogatory statements.” 

Kitty said nothing to this, probably due to her shock at her barbs not sinking in as deeply as she had thought they would. Franke, however, shot up from her seat, slamming her hands on the table. “Who the heck do you think you are?” she shouted, on the verge of launching herself right at the smaller girl. “You can’t just talk to my girl like that!” 

Faster than she would have thought, and propelled by a strange and sudden protective urge, Lili strode over to the other end of the table before Chloe could respond. “Hey, Franke,” she said, narrowing her eyes at the redhead. Franke whirled on her, her aggression withering at the approach of a stronger opponent. Lili gave her a steely frown and pointed to the table. “You spilled something.” 

Kitty and Franke looked down and then gasped in horror. “Oh, dammit!” Kitty hissed, righting the overturned bottle of polish with telekinesis. “This stuff was on a limited run! You can’t get it anymore!” 

“I’m sorry, Kitty!” Franke cried as she scrambled to mop up the mess with cotton balls. 

Satisfied that they were distracted, Lili walked up to Chloe. “Let’s get out of here,” she said, inclining her head towards the door. 

“Yes, the best course of action may be to take my leave now,” Chloe agreed. 

They headed out of the Lodge together silently, ignoring Kitty’s threat to sue Chloe’s parents as they departed. Lili did not speak until they were outside, with the doors shut behind them. “Don’t let them get to you,” she said, examining what she could see of the girl’s face for traces of sadness or anger. “She and Franke do that to everybody. They like to be mean.”

“I have no intention of allowing their words to affect me negatively,” Chloe said as she wrote something down on her paper pad. Lili was now close enough to see that it was graph paper, and that it was covered in notes and doodles. “It is not the first time that I have had that insult directed at me. It holds no power because I know it to not be true.” 

Lili smiled, liking Chloe’s confidence. “It was cool that you stood up to them. Not many people would have done that.” 

Chloe cocked her head to the side. “I find that very odd,” she said, reaching under her helmet to tap at her chin. “Why would any camper here allow either of those girls to speak in such a manner without defending themself?” 

Lili shrugged. “Because they’re afraid of them, I guess. Afraid of Kitty, anyway. Apparently she’s got hypno powers, but I don’t know. I’ve never seen her use them.” 

“I see,” Chloe said, jotting that information down. “That explains quite a bit about some of the other observations that I have made regarding certain other campers. Though I am glad to be aware of it, her hypnotic abilities are not something that I myself need to fear.” She pointed up at her helmet with her pencil. “My face plate serves as adequate protection against attacks like that.” 

Lili snorted. “Yeah, I bet she’d have no effect on you,” she said, looking into the orange-tinted screen. Through it, she could see that Chloe was indeed as bald as the rumors had claimed. It was too soon for there to be more than a hint of stubble on the girl’s head, but squished up against the back of the helmet was a bow. It should have looked absurd on a hairless scalp, but Lili had to admire Chloe for wearing it- being bald evidently wasn’t going to stop her from rocking the styles she liked. That, more than anything was what prompted Lili to ask if Chloe was still interested in getting her nails painted. 

“Yes, I am,” Chloe replied. “The altercation in the Main Lodge did not detract from my wish to study the activity.” 

“Yeah, well…” Lili shrugged and looked down at her boots. “I’ve got some nail polish in my bunk. If you want, I can paint your nails for you.” She kicked at a leaf close to her boot. “Since you’re so interested and all.” 

“That is excellent!” Chloe exclaimed, her excitement over this mundane activity surprising Lili. “That is very kind of you! Participating in human social rituals is hugely beneficial to my research!” She bounced on the balls of her feet, looking more like a seven-year old in that moment than a scientist from another planet. “My planet will be very grateful for your help in this endeavor.” 

Lili was not sure how painted nails counted as a contribution to science, but she was too charmed by Chloe’s eagerness to question it. “Do you want to do it right now, or do you want to wait until later?”

“Now is quite alright. We can proceed immediately to your cabin.” She held out her hand. “I do not believe that we have been introduced in the manner accustomed to this society. I am known as Chloe by the denizens of this planet.” 

Lili took Chloe’s hand. “I’m Lili,” she said, amused by Chloe’s formality. 

The touch of their hands was brief. “I am very pleased to make your acquaintance,” Chloe said as she began walking down the porch steps. “I look forward to engaging in this activity with you.” 

Lili followed, unable to keep the smile from curving her lips. “Yeah, same.”

* * *

“I don’t have that many colors to pick from,” Lili warned as she unzipped a purple cosmetic case with little bats printed on it. “I’ve got black and, um…” She pushed aside an eye pencil and a well used tri-color shadow palette and took out two pots of nail polish. “...black with silver sparkles.” 

“That is fine,” Chloe said, unbothered by the lack of variety. She was seated cross-legged in the middle of the cabin, a small rag laid out before her. “I am in no position to be picky.” She was glancing all around the room as she spoke, observing every nook and cranny of the room. “I expected that the cabin that housed the more advanced students would be better furnished than the one for those of a lesser rank,” she remarked, “but this one appears no different from the one that I was assigned to.” 

“They aren’t any different. I think having a bunk in here is more a status thing than anything else. It’s basically meaningless.” Lili hopped off the bunk and joined Chloe on the floor. “Which one do you want?” Lili asked, holding the two pots out for Chloe’s inspection. 

Chloe scrutinized the nail polish intently, brows scrunching together. The colors really were not much different from one another- they were the exact same brand and shade; one just had glitter in it. That was the one Chloe chose. “It is reminiscent of a clear night sky, when the stars are in full view.” 

“Huh.” Lili put the unwanted pot back into the cosmetic bag and looked at the one Chloe chose. “I guess it does,” she said, though she could not say what it would look like once it was on Chloe’s nails, since she hadn’t used it yet. Her own nails were coated in the solid black she’d just put away. “You must really like outer space,” she said. She immediately felt stupid after doing so.  _ What a dumb thing to say. Of course she likes space, she wears a helmet everywhere.  _

“Yes, I do,” Chloe said, nodding enthusiastically, unaware of Lili’s embarrassment. “I’ve made the trip out from Cygnus A to this galaxy, though I unfortunately do not recall any of the details, since I was in stasis for most of it. I came out of it already settled into the home of the Earth family that was kind enough to take me in.” 

“Oh, that’s cool,” Lili said. She felt a little awkward, playing into this kid’s fantasy, but she liked how Chloe had framed her arrival on Earth. “I bet it’s hard to be away from your home, though,” she said, curious about what other stories Chloe may have come up with about her ‘home planet’. 

Chloe’s shoulders sagged just a little. “It has been difficult, adjusting to a society whose rules are often strange and irrational to me,” she admitted, a trace of sadness in her tone. “I sometimes feel like I am missing some vital piece of a vast and complicated puzzle.” Lili could sympathize. Sometimes the world and the people in it were so crazy and confusing that she just wanted to hide away in her garden and never talk to anyone again. “But the hardships have been worth it. I have learned many things, and have met many Earthlings worthy of a place on my ship.” She paused, hummed, then added, “Not the two that I spoke with today, though. I do not believe that they would be compatible with my society at all.” 

Lili laughed. “Yeah, you should probably leave them here. You’d have to build an extra ship just to carry all of Kitty’s luggage.” 

“I do not believe that she would want to be a crew-member anyway,” Chloe said seriously. “She would be required to work, and she has made it quite clear that she abhors that.” 

“Pft, yeah.” Lili twisted the cap off of the nail polish, holding the brush over the pot so that the excess would drip off into it. “Hold out your hand.”

Chloe did, but with her palm facing up. “May I examine that product before we proceed?” she asked.

Lili shrugged. “Sure,” she said, handing the brush and the pot over to Chloe. 

“Thank you.” Chloe held the brush up to her face, squinting at it for a few seconds before audibly sniffing- could she smell it through her helmet? Maybe not, for she put the brush back into the pot and then rotated it so that the label faced away from her. “Are there any warnings written on this?” 

Lili had never thought to look. “Maybe,” she answered. “If there are, it’s gonna be hard to read, since the polish is so dark.”

“Yes, I can make out some lettering, but what it says is illegible,” Chloe said. “This concerns me. I recently used an Earth product without taking the proper precautions, and it ended quite badly for me, as you’ve no doubt heard through the peer to peer communication line.” 

All that Lili had heard was that an accident had left Chloe bald; she knew nothing about the nature of the accident itself. “I use that brand,” Lili said, raising her hand and curling her fingers inward to show Chloe her black-painted nails. “I’ve never had my nails rot off or anything like that.” Chloe still looked a bit apprehensive, so Lili took the polish back from her and removed the cap. “Here, I’ll show you.” She passed the brush over the index finger of her left hand. “See? It’s safe,” she said when she was done. The glitter showed up quite nicely on the black background of her nail. “Not dangerous at all.” 

Chloe visibly relaxed. “Thank you for addressing my concerns and demonstrating the product. I feel confident that the polish will do me no harm.” She held her right hand out to Lili, displaying her short, pink nails. “You may begin. I hope that the length of my nails will not make the task difficult. They are not as long as Franke’s or Kitty’s.” 

They looked fine to Lili. Her ring finger looked like half of it had recently been lost, but she could still paint it. “It won’t,” Lili said, taking Chloe’s hand in her own to steady it as she painted. It was small and a little rough- not so different from her own. “Most people don’t have super long claws like they do.” She swiped the brush over Chloe’s thumbnail, taking care to keep the paint on the nail and not on Chloe’s skin. “What do you think? Do you like it?” 

Chloe held up her thumb. “The glitter has a pleasing aesthetic but I thought that the color would be darker.”

The paint was sort of thin. “We’ll have to do two coats,” Lili said as she started on the next nail. “I’ll do that after it dries.” 

“And how long will that take?” Chloe asked.

“Not long.” Lili dipped the brush into the pot before moving onto the middle finger. “By the time I get done your other hand, probably.”

“A very efficient process,” Chloe said with satisfaction. “I am very pleased with how this is going so far. Much better than my previous social research project.” 

It didn’t take a genius to puzzle out that the outcome of that research had been Chloe’s hair loss. Lili wanted to inquire further, but thought that Chloe probably had enough people bugging her about it. “That’s good. Glad to help with your research and stuff.” 

“This is a tremendous help,” Chloe agreed, watching as the brush spread glitter and color over her ring finger. “Female -oriented activities are not something that I have had the opportunity to study in-depth, due to my own interests aligning more with what has been traditionally considered to be more masculine pursuits by this planet’s society.”   
  


A bit of paint accidently spread out onto Chloe’s finger, so Lili set the brush down and used the rag to dab it away. “You know, outer space isn’t just a thing that boys like,” she said once the splatter was gone. 

“No, but technology and science appear to be,” Chloe said as Lili began to carefully paint her pinky. “At least, that is the way it is in the town my base is located in. The peers who share my interests tend to be boys.” 

“Hm. At Psychonauts HQ, there are a lot of female scientists who work in the labs,” Lili said as she finished Chloe’s pinky. “Some of them are even on space-related projects.” 

“Really?” Chloe said, sounding pleasantly surprised. “How is it that you know this?” 

“Oh. Um…” Liil hadn’t thought that there was anyone in this camp who didn’t know that her father was the current Grand Head of the Psychonauts. “My dad, um, works there,” she said, not wanting to advertise that fact if she didn’t have to. “He knows them.” 

Thankfully, Chloe didn’t question her further on the topic of her father, being more interested in the space program. “And what is it that these scientists research? Are they building probes to send into the furthest reaches of the galaxy? Are they involved in Area 51? What about wormholes, are they doing anything with those?” 

Lili sheepishly admitted that, to her knowledge, the Psychonauts weren’t doing any of those things. “I think they’ve launched some satellites, but they aren’t sending them into deep space or anything.” She didn’t know what the purpose of those satellites were, since she wasn’t interested in them enough to ask her dad, and he probably wouldn't have been able to tell her anyway for security reasons. “They talked about building a base on the moon a while back, but I think that got cancelled.” 

“Oh. That is disappointing,” Chloe said as Lili signaled for her to present her other hand. “I had hoped that this organization would have had a more extensive space program.”

Lili kept her gaze on Chloe’s bare nails, sighing inwardly. She knew that the Psychonauts used to focus more on stuff like that, but a lot of research projects had been put on the back burner due to budget constraints. “You know,” she said, not wanting to talk further about the decline of the Psychonauts, “Agent Nein really likes space too. He told me that he wants to talk to aliens one day.” 

“Is that right?” Chloe said, perking up. “Perhaps I will seek him out and allow him to speak to me, should he prove to be trustworthy.”

“You can trust him,” Lili said, a small smile coming to her face as she painted Chloe’s thumb. “I’ve known him for years. He acts all stoic, but he’s not as scary as he seems.” She bit her lip as she worked on filling in a tiny spot in the corner of the nail. “He has a lab, and he does take kids in there to get their marksmanship badge. But the rumors about him driving kids insane with his tests aren’t true at all.” 

“I had not heard those rumors, but I believe you when you say that they are false.” Chloe turned her wrist so that Lili could get a better angle on her index finger. “My understanding of human nature is admittedly a bit lacking, but so far the data I have collected supports my opinion of you being someone with a lot of integrity.” 

The statement had been made plainly, but Lili thought that it only made the compliment more genuine. Flustered, her words came out awkwardly. “I just get really annoyed by some of the dumb stories that get spread around this place,” she said, trying to downplay Chloe’s praise. 

“If I hear something that sounds outlandish, I shall go to you to confirm its veracity,” Chloe said. Lili was not sure that she really liked that proposal, since she didn’t like camp gossip at all, but a warmth spread through her at the idea of spending more time with this Tender Brain, who she liked more and more the longer she talked to her. “And I will see if I can assist Agent Nein in his investigations. Since I am an alien myself, and have had partial communications with others of my kind.” 

The brush hovered over Chloe’s ring finger, a drop poised to to plop down on it at any second. “Wait. You’ve actually talked to aliens?” Lili asked, unable to mask her disbelief. “I, uh, mean, you talked to your people?”

“To say that we have talked would be inaccurate,” Chloe said, shaking her head. “I receive intermittent attempts at communications from my people back home. They are very faint for the most part, and I have yet to maintain any sort of back and forth with them.” She blew out her frustration in a quick sigh. “My biological communication apparatus is not enough for consistent contact, but it feels as though it has been strengthened in the last few days that I have been at this camp. It is why I have been studying the radio systems here- I believe that a combination of my natural abilities and a larger communication array will allow me to actually speak with my people, and get a better idea of what goals I should focus on while here.” 

“Uh…” Lili was not sure what to say to this. To her, it sounded like Chloe was picking up on random thoughts- she’d experienced it herself when her own telepathic powers began emerging. But should she tell Chloe that? She felt like bursting Chloe’s bubble would be the wrong thing to do; her fantasy of being an alien researcher harmed nobody, and only helped Chloe cope with living in a world where being psychic pretty much made you an outcast. “ I bet Agent Nein could help you with that,” Lili said, deciding that it ultimately wasn’t her responsibility to tell Chloe the truth. “It’s pretty cool that you can talk to aliens,” Lili said, moving onto Chloe's pinky with the brush. “I can only talk to people and plants.” And she tried to avoid the former as much as possible. 

Chloe’s head snapped up from her hand to Lili’s face. “You can speak to plant matter?” Chloe asked, her excitement increasing the volume of her voice. “That is incredible!” 

She said it like she meant it, and not like she was just trying to be polite. Lili knew the difference, since she had encountered that many times before, from adults who were very obviously patronizing her to get into her father’s good graces, or by their children forced to interact with her for the same reason. She paused as she finished painting the last nail on Chloe’s hand. “Do you really think so?” she asked almost tentatively, having a hard time believing that Chloe’s interest was genuine. 

“I would not have said so if I didn’t,” Chloe replied, looking down at her hand to observe the paint job on her nails. “ That ability would be an asset for any scientist. I had not been aware that one could even speak to the plants on this planet until you informed me that you could.” She bounced, so elated by this discovery that she was unable to keep still. “I’ve done a lot of research on Earth fauna, but not so much on Earth flora. I would greatly appreciate hearing a plant’s account of their life! Would perhaps consider demonstrating this power to me sometime during this summer?” 

Something began fluttering within Lili’s stomach. It was very rare that anyone thought herbaphony to be a useful power, since most people didn’t think that a plant would have anything valuable to say But Chloe had immediately seen the potential her ability brought, and was so clearly excited by it that it seemed like she would jump up and drag Lili out the door at any second to see her use it. She was as eager to learn about plants as she had been to learn about nail-painting. It was refreshing- in a place where nothing ever happened and nobody cared about anything other than their own drama, it was nice to have somebody so passionate about discovering new things. “Yeah, we could do that,” Lili said before her instinctual cynicism could convince her not to. “Not all plants around here are gonna want to be interviewed, but I know a few who’ll talk. We can go see them after your nails are done.” 

“Excellent.” Chloe put her right hand forward, the now-dry polish ready for its second coat. “What a vast improvement today has been over yesterday! Lili, if all of the Earthlings here were more like you, the quality of my research would improve drastically.” Chloe’s ear to ear beam was visible through her face plate. Lili automatically smiled back. “Should you wish it, you are welcome to join my crew once I get my ship up and running. With you on board, we will be able to maintain the biological samples I plan on taking back to my planet.” 

Lili’s cheeks turned pink. “Thanks. I bet your planet’s cooler than this one.” She began painting over the first coat on Chloe’s thumb, glad that she had met this curious, creative kid. “In the meantime, you can hang out with me anytime.”

“I may take you up on that offer,’ Chloe replied, glancing down at her nails. “These already look very appealing. I suspect that I shall be returning to you for frequent touch-ups.” 


End file.
